Friday, September 21, 2007

Tried to post during the competition but my personal computer didn't work so had to use hotel computer which only typed in chinese so that was something i couldn't master... anyway will recap the situation...It was a phenomenal Championship from the indian perspective. The men won the team GOLD for the first time in 18 years which was huge. We definitely had the best three archers there (Jayanta Talukdar, Rahul Banerjee and Mangal Singh Champia) and we beat all the top asian countries. It was also good for the women who finished with a bronze.In the individual championships, Chekrovolu Swuro had the best outing and narrowly missed out on a medal by losing by one point in the bronze medal match.Mangal Singh who was in second place after the ranking round, also finished with an individual bronze.In the Olympic qualifiers, which was the main interest for our boys there (women already have a berth), we started out the Olympic round (single elimination match play) with Mangal Singh in first place, Jayant Talukdar in fourth and Rahul in fifth.Rahul and Jayant met each other in the quarter finals with Rahul winning which made up for Mangal vs. Rahul in one semi and a Malaysian vs. Philipino in the other. With the to three qualifying India was thereby assured one berth for Beijing.Mangal ended up the winner, thereby securing a berth for the country. Rahul had some bad luck and ended up losing in the bronze medal match by one point in a shoot off. That really put a bit of a damper to an otherwise very successful tournament.Am also proud of both my Mittal Champions Trust kids (mangal and Chekrovolu) who have really matured into world class archers over the last couple of years.In my next post i would really like to talk about the ugly side of archery in india due to which we failed to qualify as a team at the world championships.

Friday, September 14, 2007

Off to the Asian Archery championships so will have a daily update frm xian, china starting monday... i am sure you are all waiting anxiously but its actually going to be a big one for our boys who are still seeking that elusive Olympic berth...for the girls its just another day out in the field... will keep all posted

Monday, September 10, 2007

Just read lately how China had sent a delegation down here to get some insights and hire people for get this kabaddi... yeah its not a typo... Kabaddi...China is going to be hosting the next Asian Games and for them the 200 odd gold medals they win is just not enough... they want one more...That shows the level of commitment they have to sports and more importantly to winning no matter what the discipline is. Its interesting to see one of the best in the world aspire to get that much better and really leave their mark in every facet of the word sport.It should be a huge eye opener for our government, associations and public to get their acts together and really get going. I am hoping we don't just hand over the little edge we do have in kabaddi since when we want something from China it is really a closed market. Hopefully we will bargain hard and be able to get something out of it but that too is doubtful.The question is what will it take for us to really raise the bar in every sports discipline in the country???The money isn't the problem, the problem is we don't have people really grooming champions from very young ages because the belief is just not there. We don't believe we can win and until that is instilled there really isn't going to be a culture of winning. Anyway the time is now and hopefully we can stop the petty fights and join hands and get our acts together.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

well again all the travel dampens my ability to post regularly... regardless have survived and am back in the office (for two days)...

This has been a tough year not only for the people trying to qualify for beijing but also the ones who have already secured a berth...The Olympics are funny because you have to learn how to peak to qualify and then surpass that peak once you are actually there...The road isn't that much easier once you know you are going... one of my athletes going wisely pointed out to me yesterday...."our form is good so we qualify, then once we know we are going we feel the heat to make good into great, hence experimenting with different techniques etc to gain that edge, however in bargain we sometimes lose the 'good'"that was an interesting point which got me thinking about the huge void in our country for coaches, mentors who have been there and done that and can actually guide our kids in this critical period.Again it is the chicken and egg scenario, but the important thing is that the athletes and coaches who do actually go out and achieve should take some time to impart their much needed knowledge to the others who are striving to emulate them.